So you’ve selected the best proposal software tool for your business. That’s the hard part done. Or is it?
Convincing other stakeholders in your business—particularly those who hold the purse-strings—is paramount to getting the new purchase across the line.
To gain internal buy-in, consider these tactics:
Prove its worth
Leaders will want to know whether the proposal software will deliver a return on investment.
To demonstrate ROI, show how high the opportunity cost can be if you don’t use a proposal tool—in terms of the time it takes to manually prepare a proposal, from searching for content to designing the finished product.
Calculate how long it currently takes, and count how many cross-functional stakeholders need to get involved.
Understanding how long it takes to get a proposal tool up and running will be vital for buy-in. Use tools like G2 to see the set-up time variations, like this graph below.
Get the right people involved
Depending on your organization’s procurement process, you may need to get internal sign-off from key departments before you buy. For example, legal, IT, and finance are typical teams to bring in at this stage.
Be ready for objection handling
You may come up against some objections on the path to purchase. Have your responses ready so you can change people’s minds. For example:
- “We don’t have the budget.”
Going back to the first point above, demonstrate ROI by showing how much it currently costs to propose proposals, and how much time you’ll save with the right tool in place. - “Our existing process works just fine.”
Does it, though? Sure, you might be getting proposals out the door, but now is the time to point out any inefficiencies or flaws in the process. For example, could automation save your team time, or could a more visually-appealing format help win more customers? - “We don’t have time to learn another tool.”
We get it. Learning how to use a new piece of software can feel overwhelming. But once you demonstrate the simplicity and time-saving features of a tool like Qwilr, and show how easily it integrates in the platforms users are already familiar with, then you’ll win any skeptics over.
About the author
Tania Clarke|Head of Product Marketing
Tania heads up product marketing at Qwilr – looking after positioning, sales enablement, competitor intelligence and more. Tania brings experience from former roles at high growth startups like Atlassian and Safety Culture.